John Cho Quotes

Acting is a strange job because your control is very limited.

You know, working as an actor, I'm always working within my own imagination.

Acting is an imaginative leap, really, isn't it? And imaginations prosper in different circumstances.

An actor is supposed to be a sensitive instrument.

So what's so enticing about doing a play is that you get to do that thing that got you into acting in the first place... There's a real attraction to being able to play, to just play. And that's something that theater affords you.

Making a film or doing a play are completely different experiences and entirely fulfilling, but completely unique. I also think one complements the other. People often say that theater is about flexing your muscles, and is actually real acting, whereas I sort of disagree.

Writing and directing might be a red herring, and really I'm just re-examining what it is to act, to do it well and do it properly.

You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you do, and there's not a lot of waiting around and interruption and not a lot of money involved - sometimes money really clouds the waters of creativity.

As an actor, you know when you've got great material in front of you. When you're working, you think, 'Is this the one? The one that everyone will respond to and be moved by?' You pray that you have told the story well... that your peers will see it and audiences will love it.

I think one of the great things about acting is the instant gratification: you just get up and start being a part of the story. The immediacy is something you get really addicted to.

I'm someone who started in the theater and really couldn't stand repeating the show. My favorite part of acting is the five or six weeks of rehearsal that you get. I like doing previews; I like the opening week because my friends and family come, and then after that, I don't want to do it anymore.

Good actors can tell you more about your play than 1,000 hours alone at your desk.

I realized that theater was the perfect thing for me, in short bursts of intense community building.

Film and stage are very different; I don't necessarily prefer one over the other. Every few years, I get a big itch to go back to the theater. To learn humility, to learn bravery and to remind yourself that the pistons that drive your craft are working on full power. And to remind yourself how badly paid actors can be.

Working with a great director is like getting a master class in acting.

I'm an actor's director. I love it when talented actors can bring characters to life.

Being an actor in movies is a lot about the power of your imagination and making the circumstance real to you so the audience will feel that it's real.

As actors, you do have to be aware of your audience. You can't act in a vacuum, even if that audience isn't exactly present with you.

You've got to love acting and that's true for me. I love the idea of getting on stage and getting in front of a camera.

What I like about theater is its team work. Theater is also all-time creativity.

I'm more of a writer than an actor, and I used to say that I'm mostly an improviser, though I haven't improvised in awhile.

Anyone who has been given the gift of being opposite an actor who gives and gives, it just makes you better.

I've never so appreciated what actors do and how strange it is.

I think it's an actor's responsibility to change every time. Not only for himself and the people he's working with, but for the audience. If you just go out and deliver the same dish every time... it's meat loaf again... you'd get bored. I'd get bored.

Acting is the work of two people - it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director.